Crypto Escrow, Technology, Non-Warrantable Condo Products; Investor Updates, Mergers and Employment News
Julie C. writes, “Did you know that every “c” in “Pacific Ocean” is pronounced differently?” As I head to Northern California, which borders the Pacific, this morning, I recalled this thought: “Sometimes you meet someone and you know from the first moment that you want to spend your whole life without them.” I am sure that people don’t feel that way about loanDepot’s Anthony Hsieh, although the LD board of directors is wary. Recall that Anthony was forced out of his position as Executive Chairman a month ago, but given that he’s the founder of the company, and still a large stockholder, he has sway and was in the news this week about “shaking up” LD’s board. (More loanDepot and other wholesaler news below… remember Impac Funding?) (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week is sponsored by SimpleNexus, an nCino company and homeownership platform that unites the people, systems, and stages of the mortgage process into one seamless, end-to-end solution that spans engagement, origination, closing, incentive compensation, and business intelligence.)
Broker and Lender Products, Software, and Services
“Our Newrez Correspondent Regional Sales Managers are hitting the road and traveling coast to coast this Spring. You can catch David Pistone and Baird Marble in San Diego March 23-25 at the MCT Conference, Sarah Johanns in Coralville April 3-5 at the Iowa Mortgage Association Conference, Beverly Jordan , Rebecca Yonaka and John Dubisky in Memphis April 4-5 at the Great River Conference, Tom Winston, in San Antonio April 30-May 2 at the TMBA Annual Conference, Alex Weems, Tom Van Auken, Tony Petronio, Chris Nobile, and Rob Niess in Atlantic City May 2-4 at the New Jersey MBA Conference, Patty Devita, and Tom Van Auken in Maryland May 8-10 at the Mid Atlantic Regional Conference, and wrapping up in the Big Apple with our entire sales team May 21-23 at the National Secondary Conference. See in-person why our Correspondent division is one of the best in the industry! Apply now or contact us to learn more.”
Advancial Federal Credit Union (NMLS#469500 an Equal Housing Lender) is a leader in Non-Warrantable Condo, Condotel and Non-Warrantable Co-op financing. Advancial steps in when other lenders step out! Almost all reasons for non-warrantable designation considered including: units under 500 square feet with a kitchenette, special assessment issues, recreational leases, investor or single entity ownership concentration, commercial space, deed restrictions, and much more. This program can be combined with all other Advancial programs including: Jumbo Cash Out, No Credit, Asset Depletion, Foreign National, One Year Self-Employed and more. Loans up to 5mm with no pre-payment penalty. Available in all 50 states and DC. Pre-approvals and rush closings provided. We save loans! Visit us, email us or call today 888-876-2328.
Four years ago organizational guru Marie Kondo’s Netflix series ignited a frenzy of tidying. Followers of her method conquer clutter by holding each possession and asking themselves whether it sparks joy. If it doesn’t, they junk it. Today’s increasingly cost-conscious lenders may find themselves taking a Marie Kondo-esque approach to tidying up their tech stacks, asking, “Does this bring me value?” and, “Does this bring me volume?” If the answer is no, well, it was a nice partnership while it lasted. But what lenders might overlook are opportunities to improve the bottom line by ADDING a new technology. Sounds counterintuitive, until you see a demo of the TrustEngine Borrower Intelligence Platform (BIP), which enhances your existing technology investments by putting data in the driver’s seat of every sales interaction and marketing engagement. Spark some joy and see it for yourself.
The iPhone wasn’t the only groundbreaking innovation born in 2007. That same year, FormFree set out to disrupt mortgage lending by bringing the industry’s first digital asset verification solution to market. 16 years later, FormFree has positioned itself to transform the mortgage industry yet again, this time by pioneering tools that enable lenders to understand credit underserved consumers’ ability to pay (ATP) a mortgage loan. Having divested AccountChek to Stewart Title, FormFree is going all in on Passport, an app that verifies consumer’s comprehensive Financial DNA, and the Residual Knowledge Income Index (RIKI), a cash-flow analysis method of creditworthiness evaluation. Hear CEO Brent Chandler and newly appointed President Eric Lapin discuss FormFree’s future with Clear Capital’s Kenon Chen. Listen in for the inside scoop here.
One thing's for sure: Lenders are tired of paying for tech they're not using, so investing in something like a point-of-sale that costs as much as the LOS when you're only going to use 20 percent of the features?! That's an easy and hard no! But if you'd like to provide your borrowers with a better front-end experience, you should look at LiteSpeed by LenderLogix. It's a beautiful online loan application with a customized needs list backed by secure document upload and text message updates to borrowers and Realtors. It is all designed to sync seamlessly with Encompass® by ICE Mortgage Technology™, and you can be up and running in days, not months. Talk to the team at LenderLogix about how a small monthly investment can reinvent your borrower experience and organically increase your lead capture.
Lenders, are you getting your share of closings from buyers using cryptocurrency for closing funds? A 2022 Redfin survey found that 12.9 percent of first-time homebuyers used gains from crypto to purchase their homes…and that’s just first-time homebuyers! Add in the other 70 percent and we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of loans a year. PremiumTitle™, Altisource’s 50-state title and settlement, can help you tap into that market! PremiumTitle works with a crypto payment firm that enables borrowers to convert their crypto to USD and wire straight into escrow. The borrower’s crypto ownership is validated and the crypto itself is checked to make sure it’s not illicit. These aren’t all crypto billionaires either – did you know there are over 1.75 million digital wallets out there with $10K to $100K worth of Bitcoin in them? Those smell like potential down payments! To learn more, contact Kimberly Kosanovich, Esq. (617.461.7684).
Broker, Lender, and Investor News
In merger news, Dallas-based Town Square Mortgage has merged with Palatine, Ill.-based American Portfolio Mortgage Corp.
Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. is converting from a retail direct-to-consumer model to a mortgage broker model, announcing plans to “wind down” its third-party origination channel, and voluntarily giving up its seller/servicer designation with the government-sponsored enterprises. The changes are being made as it reviews its operations and expenses in order to better “navigate current market and industry conditions.”
Public companies are helpful in that they report their financial performance, and none were immune to a lousy year. Despite significantly reducing expenses, exiting the wholesale channel, and cutting thousands of jobs, loanDepot Inc. on Wednesday reported losses for both the fourth quarter of 2022 and the full year. Fourth quarter 2022 summary: Quarterly revenue decrease of $104.5 million driven primarily by lower market activity due to increased interest rates and seasonal slowdown in purchase volume. Reduced total expenses by $91.4 million, or 21 percent, from third quarter primarily driven by lower staffing levels, marketing spend, and Vision 2025 related costs. Net loss increased 15 percent to $157.8 million in fourth quarter from third quarter driven by lower revenues partially offset by aggressive expense reductions. Company exited the year with cash balance of $864.0 million.
PRMG posted its Secondary Marketing Update regarding Conventional Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac LLPA updates applicable to all whole loans purchased on or after May 1, 2023 and for loans delivered into MBS pools with issue dates on or after May 1, 2023. PRMG will begin feathering in the revised price adjusters on applicable Conventional transactions.
AmeriHome General Announcement 20230116-CL summarizes previously published changes made during January, additional changes made with this announcement, and recent Agency and regulatory news.
Citizens Correspondent National Bulletin 2023-04 includes information on pricing update Conventional Agency Products, and additional information and all lock, delivery, and purchase by dates, if required.
Capital Markets
Markets took Fed Chair Powell’s warnings before Congress earlier this week of resurgent inflation as a signal the Fed is planning to hike by 50 basis points later this month. Powell did “stress that no decision has been made on (increasing the pace of rate hikes).” That narrative softened slightly after applications for U.S. unemployment benefits last week rose to the highest since December, blowing past all estimates. The numbers suggest some softening in the tight labor market. Of course we receive the jobs report today and the CPI on Tuesday, both of which will determine what the Fed does in a couple of weeks.
Today features the aforementioned Employment Situation report for February, which will factor into the market's rate hike expectations. Headline payrolls increased to 311k when it was expected to rise 305k. The unemployment rate was 3.6 percent when it was seen ticking up to 3.5 percent, and hourly earnings fell. Later today brings the February budget statement from the Bureau of Fiscal Service. CBO estimates a deficit of $263 billion compared with $217 billion in February 2022. After the employment data, Agency MBS prices are better by .375-.50, 4.69 on the 2-year, and the 10-year yielding 3.77 after closing yesterday at 3.93 percent.
Employment and Transitions
A top-rated national retail lender with headquarters in the Southeast is searching for a VP of Sales to join its exec team. This lender has strong backing that provides stability, an elevated level of support and a large residential builder network which offers expansive growth. The VP of Sales will design, develop, and execute on thoughtful strategies and tactics to increase business development and strengthen customer and partner relationships. Interested parties can send confidential resumes to Chrisman LLC’s Anjelica Nixt for forwarding to the company.
“AmWest Funding Corp, one of the nation's leaders in Non-QM lending, is looking for Delegated Correspondent Account Executives to join our team!. AmWest Funding is thrilled to feature its array of Non-QM programs, including VOE, Alt Doc, Bank Statement, One Year Tax Return, and DSCR programs to a broader clientele. Here at AmWest Funding, we have been setting the bar high in mortgage lending since 2016. Our team is passionate about providing our lenders (or business partners) with competitive pricing and an expansive array of products that allow them to excel. If you are looking for an experienced lender to help you expand your territory and further diversify your product offerings with excellent service and turn times, join us today! Contact us or visit our website for more career opportunities.”
“Are you an experienced Wholesale Account Executive excited about innovation and the prospect of being a part of something special? Then Emporium TPO is ready to meet you! We’re looking for talented sales professionals to join our growing team. Our experienced leadership and collaborative culture allow you to focus on serving mortgage brokers and shaping your professional future. Emporium TPO is the result of more than 65 years of industry experience combined with a vision to build the future of third-party origination. We’re a transformational mortgage lender that delivers high-quality products for our partners and meaningful careers for our associates and others are noticing, including our brokers: “Thanks for those last 2 transactions! You’re our DSCR lender from here on out! Excellent service, reasonable conditions and the pricing is great. Thank you!” – Chris M. Apply on our website or send your resume.”
National Mortgage News named Supreme Lending a Best Mortgage Company to Work For in 2023. This is the fifth year that NMN has partnered with the Best Companies Group to survey mortgage employees in areas such as leadership, corporate culture, communications, role satisfaction, and overall engagement. Supreme stood out for its training and development programs and work environment. The company renovated its Corporate headquarters in Dallas last year to feel more like home as employees returned to the office in a challenging market. Additions include a new game room; lounge areas for socializing and informal meetings; and an automatic barista coffee machine. "Downturns are opportunities to chart a new and better path forward," said Mills Landon, Supreme's chief strategy officer. “Last year was the hardest year of my career, but it was also the best of all time watching our team learn and grow; work closer together; and build lasting bonds." If you're interested in joining the Supreme Team, contact Director of National Recruiting Ryan Baxter or find Supreme on LinkedIn.